Why BMW

Why do we drive BMW?What is it about them thats makes them so dam good to drive?

When i was 17 i used to work for Cowies of Stockton, the main BMW dealer in the area and i used to see these customers with there BM's and i used to say 'One day i'll have myself one of them' and now i'm on to my 4th.

Yes its the badge but its more than that,Its the way they sound, the way they drive,the way you can throw it into a corner and it holds on.Its the total package

So give me your views...Why do we drive a BMW?

RWD, looks (at least that's one of the reasons I chose an E36), performance and handling. The image is meaningless to me since half the people you meet think it's a nice car and the other half think you're an arrogant twit who's payed over the odds simply because of the badge.

Wouldn't buy a Merc because I don't want an auto and their manuals are supposed to be rubbish.

as stated above RWD and a build quality   that you will never get from a TVR  .must be very high on my list of why i drive them

and YES the stigma of owning a BMW is concivied by others as a bit stuck up ..but there the sort of peaple who live in the past and think/thought BMWs are for the rich .but as we all know anyone can own a BMW and every man and his dog [including mondeo rep] drivers can enjoy a bmw  

but why do you see someone buying a brand new BMW  base model   say a 316    just so he can be seen to own and drive a bmw ...hmmmm  let me think  lol ..i bet he owns a new build house on some new fancy estate .he will have more debt than russias national debt itself and i bet you he can only afford to buy a half in the local "estate" pub  untill he wins the pub quiz  ...why bother???  i can see why .because owning a BMW  is deemed to be desirable ..but only for the other peaple that think BMWs  are the cat wiskers   ...and yes i think they are as far as a common drivers car can be..but a 316   come on .A 316 there gutless and about asmatic as a pit pony on his last legs ...but there still RWD and a bmw so yeah i can agree to buying one ..but i wouldnt ....and a BIG  sorry to any 316 owners in advance

BMWs are victom of there own success   ..there built right ..they drive spot on ...the label is right...there just /nearly as cheap to run than most makes of cars ..  but above all else   ..if you like and know how to make cars sing and dance on the track /road  ..then driving a beemmaaa    is about as close to striking a balance of taking the kids to school in the morning  then driving to a track day and throwing your pride enjoy around for the afternoon   then "the bmw"  will still be able to go and pick the kids up at school for 3.30 pm 

its a shame an X5  owner carnt do a mud plug like a range rover can ACTUALLY  do .....so an X5  really can only do a school run and nothing else .apart from make you look like you have no carisma/persona  etc etc    ..and that you bought the  X because of the badge

.theres my 2 penny worth  lololol

Hmm, this is an interesting question for me.  That's because I have of course spent the last month looking at what seemed to be every car on the planet.

The final choice, as is now known, was another BMW - my fourth to be precise.  If I include my wife's 320d, then that's five. 

The fact that it's 4 in 18 months (including the wifes) is more indicative of my boredom threshold than it is anything else though.

So, why another BMW?

I drove the new Porsche 911 997 Carrera S.

I drove a new Noble M400 and GTO-3R.

I drove a new TVR Sagaris.

I drove a Mercedes SL55 AMG (2 years old).

I drove 2 x Maserati 4200 GT's (Coupe & Spyder).

I'm aware these are all very desireable cars and they're in a price range that is meant to be prefixed with words such as 'luxury', 'super' or 'dream'.

However, the reality is far from the truth.  You don't need to spend long in any of them (and there are another 8 cars I tried that I haven't listed!) to realise the things you have become complacent about in your BMW.

There is another thing that you might be surprised to hear though.

Aside from Porsche (who are superb),the BMW Customer Care experience is still the very best there is (on par with Porsche).

Spending what has amounted to £62k (list, although I negotiated a nice £7,500 discount on that!!!) you might think Customer Care would be superb everywhere.  Alas no.

Take a look at these figures that are pertinent to my recent buying experiences at non-BMW dealers:

11 calls - not returned from one dealer

6 calls - not returned from another dealer

2 calls - not returned from another dealer

3 insults of a nature that was so condescending I could not believe it

2 attempts at getting me to buy something I clearly wasn't interested in

But, and much more worryingly....

I have just done a quick reckon-up and can think of well over 20 occasions on which I was given complete and utterly incorrect information or lied to.  This encompasses everything from availability of cars, the specification of cars, the costs of servicing, the margin in cars...you name it, I was lied to about it.

I will happily commend Graypaul Ferrari & Maserati of Nottingham though - because they know how to look after you.  Ultimately, we didn't do a deal, but how many dealers bother to ring you back KNOWING you have a bought a 645 and say they're sorry, would you please consider dealing with them in future, would you like invitations to events they organise AND then offer to use their network to look into what you thought was a stunning deal on your new car and then come back to you to say.....you were right, it is, you were right to do the deal.  It might sound silly of them, but they'll get my enquiries in future years because of it.

So BMW it is again and I'm delighted to be able to say that.  When push came to shove they did their job well and the car lived up to everything they said it would.

On a side note....you would be amazed how many demonstrator cars are never available, break down, or have faults on them that sales people ask you to 'overlook'......

I must say main dealers are rubbish, have no confidence in any in this region. They take your cash and then don't want to know. It took six months for them to do everything to the car I'd asked for when negotiating. Time and again I was inconvienienced, jobs not not done or done wrongly. They have all the flash showrooms and even flasher salesmen, but don't have a clue how to keep a customer happy and thus purchase another car from them.  I will be looking further affield for my next car and might even go private, buying from a Club Member etc.

I think there must be many BMW main dealer buyers out there who don't press the dealers hard for good service. You know the type, buys a new car every one or two years and drive it only for the badge, typically never even cleaning the wheels of brake dust unless its taken through a car wash or it rains ! They think bacause they spend a fortune the service must be good, the type who cares as little for the car as a main dealer does.

When I have taken the car in for work to be done its been my experience that they clean the car for you. Well thats all well and good, but it often ends up worse when they do. Plus greasy, oily finger marks on the glass, panels or even the interior ! Is it to much for them to respect your car as much as you do ?

I'm going for a drink now before I explode !

Good luck with the new car Coasting, don't put up with any crap from the dealer !

Priory, or as it is now known, Victoria (Silverlink).

They've been like that since I had my first 318iSE many many years ago too.

The fact is that different people have different ownership/dealership experiences of course, and what one finds good another may find terrible.

However, in comparison to everywhere I went over the last 4-5 weeks, BMW were far superior in their Customer Care to all except Porsche (who were on par).

Chris, I imagine a 325 convertible will feel flat compared to a M3 and a 645!

WRT to dealers a lot of it comes down to individual dealerships. I have only ever used my local one for parts and they have been ok, however I know people who have started driving 50miles further to get their car serviced elsewhere because of the poor customer service.

Well my BMW is going soon. I will be trading it in for a ford Focus. This will then become my Fiances car once she passes her test. It might not be as good as a BMW but even the 1.8 is only in insurance group 7. To compare a 316 is in group 10-11

However all is not lost as when she passes her test I will be looking for a new car for myelf. I reckon on spending about 10k.

So far on my short list are the following cars:

E46 328 coupe

E46 330 saloon. Might be a little over budget

Audi A4 1.8T quattro sport

Honda Accord Type R.

Nissan 200 sx.

These are the sensible choices.

The less sensible ones are

E36 M3. Not sure running costs will be high and the car will be quite old

Audi S4. 10K will pick up a decent 99 car with under 50k on the clock although running costs do concern me.

Nissan 300 ZX twin turbo. Cheap as chips to buy a decent import but 18mpg and expensive parts, but a car I have always wanted.

Porsche 944 S2/Turbo. Finding a decent one will be hard and it will be 15 years old. Serving ain't cheap either but as with the 300zx, a car I have always wanted.

Any way I have a few months to think about it...